Warriors (W-L): 44-27

Nuggets (W-L): 44-28

Time: 6:00PM PST tip off

TV:FSN

Vegas Odds: Denver by 6.5 (source: yahoo.com)

Oooookay.

I don't want to over-blow the importance of tonight (and tomorrow's) games, but tonight game is HUGE. I'm talking Yao Ming big. I'm talking Blue Whale big.

I'm talking free beer big baby. It's big big big big big big big.

Big.

As we sit in the 8th spot for the playoffs with 11 games left in the regular season, tonight we face off against the team that has been nipping at our heels the entire time. We're half a game ahead the Nuggets and half a game behind the Mavs. Yes. The same Mavs we play tomorrow.

Yup. Big. JUMP!

One game. After tonight we'll either be tied with Dallas for 7th place or a half game behind Denver in 9th place. One freaking game will determine this gigantic swing. It's absolutely incredible that the Western Conference is still this volatile with so many games behind us.

So what do we have on our side to slow down `Melo, AI and company tonight? Well, for one thing, this squad is no stranger to an end of the year playoff dogfight. I think that we can all confidently say that our current roster knows the importance of coming out strong every night for the rest of the year.

The most important thing for our boys to realize (and all of us for that matter) is that Denver will be coming out with the same ferocity that we will. This team is has been fighting for our coveted 8th seed for quite some time now and they will take every opportunity to eclipse us tonight and have us nipping at their heels.

Will Baron come out tonight and lead this team? Will Monta fine tune his sniper scope for some of those butter mid-range jumpers? Will Jack be on point from the land of plenty? Is MP2 healthy enough to make it out to play tonight and provide his new found spark? (Seriously I don't know; please update the comments with what you know on that.)

So many factors. Only two results. Seventh place. Ninth place.

Game on.

Be sure to stop in on Jeremy at Pickaxe and Roll to leave some thoughts and check out our Q & A.

EVERY. GAME. COUNTS.

Predictions

* `Melo goes for 20+ but we keep A.I to 15.
* Baron with a big one tonight.
* Monta with a big one tonight.
* Jax hits 4 or more from deep.
* Warriors by 4.